


Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

by courtingthecourts



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, M/M, Superhero!AU, future smut?, oikawa is a giant flirt, suga is v snarky, they work together to set hina up w/ kags h a set pun, will add more as the story goes on!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-21
Updated: 2016-08-09
Packaged: 2018-07-16 09:34:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7262605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/courtingthecourts/pseuds/courtingthecourts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Suga finds a city-hopping vigilante named Tooru on his windowsill one rainy night. Some time before, Tooru was subjected to inhumane experiments with the goal to create an indestructible human, and the trauma left him without any emotion and able to phase through solid objects (among other things). However, Tooru can feel emotions around Suga for some apparent reason, and he decides to stick around the city for a while. Little do they know that something is chasing Tooru, and it's not going to give up.<br/>aka oikawa tooru is a giant nerd and suga must put up with his memes while they develop a marriage of convenience</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stardust

**Author's Note:**

> doot doot first fic on ao3! i've read a lot on here but i've never had the heart to post any original stuff of my own until now yayyyyy \o/ i hope you like this first chapter, even though it's quite short! ;>  
> bonus stuff about the characters at the end notes!

Tooru kicked his legs back and forth, staring up at the thousands of stars. He’d been sitting on the edge of this rooftop every night just to catch the view, but the glistening lights above had lessened in number by the evening. The wind had picked up too, causing the ungodly hours he was up to become increasingly colder. He sighed, looking around to make sure no one was watching, and forced himself to move.

The night sky’s just about the only thing I can enjoy anymore, he thought as he stood up, bidding farewell to the Pleiades before jumping off the rooftop into the city below.

It was time for work.

* * *

  
“Did you hear about last night, Suga-san?” Hinata asked, looking out the window of Suga’s classroom among the quiet chatter of the other third-years. The sky was a soft blue, the pastel-pink clouds spreading out over the horizon. “Apparently, a girl was kidnapped around 2 in the morning somewhere around here. No one knows who’s behind it or who she is, but they’ve never said anything to the police.”

“That’s kind of weird.” Suga leaned on the windowsill beside Hinata. “Does anyone know what she was doing at the time?”

“They don’t know much besides what I told you, actually.” Hinata replied, exhaling onto the window and doodling on the mist with his finger. “The school photography club is trying to get as much information as possible in the next few days before saying anything so that they can at least give the police a lead, but they’re patrolling the entire school and it’s making it hard to get anywhere. Tsukishima can scare them off easy, but I don’t really want to stick by him that much. Kageyama isn’t as effective, but if his smile won’t scare the living daylights out of them, I don’t know what will.”

Suga chuckled, smiling at the volleyball doodles Hinata had christened the window with. “As long as you two don’t race to practice and get stuck in the doors again, I’m fine with it. Daichi really can’t take much more trauma.”

“Alright!” Hinata beamed. “Okay, lunch is about to end soon and I can’t get held up in rush hour. Geh, and I need to find Kageyama! See you at practice, Suga-san!”

“Take care!” Suga waved, ruffling Hinata’s hair before watching him go out the classroom door. Once he had safely left without tripping over anything on the stairs (it had happened a few times before and nearly given Asahi a free heart attack one time), Suga pulled out yesterday’s notes to cram for a bit before his teacher started a lecture on global expansion of technology’s influence. It wasn’t particularly interesting, but some sections on the development of chemistry and physics caught his ear and earned a few extra lines in his notes. The remainder of his classes moved along quite smoothly, since they consisted of simple bookwork and minimal homework. By the time Suga had made it to the gym for volleyball practice, he didn’t feel quite as tired as he was after more strenuous days of class. His sets were right on target and everyone else seemed to be at a good spot, but the usual antics stayed. Tanaka and Nishinoya fawned over Shimizu and Yachi, Kageyama yelled at Hinata for his opinion on his set, Daichi internally disintegrated into the void through the whole of it, and the rest of them watched and laughed.

“It almost looks effortless, doesn’t it?” Yamaguchi breathed, mesmerized by the team’s movements on the court. They were playing a three-on-three with rotations, one of everyone’s favorite things to do at practice. This game’s lineup was Kageyama, Daichi, and Tanaka versus Ennoshita, Nishinoya, and Kinoshita. Suga would be with Yamaguchi and Hinata in three more plays, and they were enjoying the games before then.

“Right?” Suga grinned as Kageyama stepped up to serve. It looked like a hard one to receive, but Nishinoya pulled (yet another) rolling thunder. The rotations continued until their turn, when Suga nearly ran onto the court. They were up against Asahi, Narita, and Tsukishima, the last game of the day. Yamaguchi’s floater serves earned them five points in the first set, and Hinata scored five more even though the blockers had marked him from the start. When Karasuno played against itself like this, Hinata wasn’t really the best decoy to use, so Suga planned a simple signal: he’d slightly lift one foot right before the set if it was for Yamaguchi and do nothing if it was for Hinata. With Hinata’s innate ability to see past the blockers and Yamaguchi’s newly-learned trick shots, Suga had a lot to work with. Even if they missed the signal, their spikes were still successful, albeit a bit confused. At Ukai’s call for the end of practice, the three had won by four points, a feat that earned them bragging rights due to Asahi’s powerful spikes and Tsukishima’s notorious block. Narita had even performed a few setter dumps, catching them completely off-guard.

“Your serves were awesome today!” Hinata gushed, running beside Yamaguchi. “I’m lucky if I can get in two good ones, but you scored so many points for us!”

“Thanks!” Yamaguchi reddened, glancing back at Tsukishima before extending his hand to Hinata for a high-five, who yelled in delight at the gesture.

Behind them, Daichi sighed, both in relief and fatigue at the day’s work. “Honestly, Tanaka and Nishinoya are going to kill me someday,” he groaned, watching Nishinoya hoist himself up onto Tanaka’s shoulders and try to do a backflip off them.

“Hang in there, o great captain.” Suga punched Daichi’s stomach, laughing. “You can get your revenge when we’re in college, but pull yourself together for now.”

After a few more conversations with the first-years and some food, Suga finally began to walk home. He checked his phone for the time: 6:15 PM. A little bit later than what he was used to, but his mother wouldn’t be home from work until 7, so he had some time to himself. He decided to just do some chores to make her happy and then get his homework out of the way like usual.

Until it started to drizzle.

Early spring rain wasn’t cold, but it was still uncomfortably lukewarm, so by the time Suga made his way through the door of his house, he felt like he’d sweated out a gallon of water and ran up the stairs for a quick shower. In hindsight, he probably should have seen this coming, since it had been cloudy when practice ended. It really didn’t matter much after he changed into his normal pajamas and done his weekly laundry, though.

Suga knew his mother was home when he heard the door unlocking, but the sound had given him a jumpscare while he was preparing dinner. “I’m home!” His mother called, setting down some shopping bags and taking off her shoes.

“Dinner’s nearly here!” Suga called back, leaving the kitchen and running to give his mother a hug. He carried the bags to the dining table, sorting everything into either the pantry or the fridge and set the table when he was done. Tonight’s dish was some simple pasta puttanesca, but both mother and son loved pasta on rainy days and it had been pleasantly easy to make.

“How was practice today?” Across the table, his mother grinned at him through her glass of water. “Did you have fun?”

“It was really nice,” Suga recalled the events of the three-on-three, using as much detail as he could to describe Yamaguchi and Hinata’s maneuvers through the game.

“You probably could have passed the ball to either one of them and had them set for you, honey.” His mom smirked knowingly. It was rare when Suga spiked, but it was a surefire way to score as far as Karasuno’s team knew.

“I could have, couldn’t I?” Suga almost regretted his decisions when he realized that it would have put Hinata under some stress to set and Yamaguchi hadn’t really worked on the skill beforehand. “Want any dessert? I can make some fruit tarts or something for you.”

“It’s alright, just go upstairs and study and I’ll bring you snacks. If you need any help on anything, I’m always downstairs.” His mother hugged him again, lifting him off his feet and coaxing an embarrassingly loud giggle from Suga.

“Love you too, Mama,” he said in between laughs, running up the stairs before she could catch him again and tickle the living daylights out of him again. He opened the door beside the master bedroom’s, grinning like an idiot.

There was a random guy sitting on the windowsill while the thunder crashed down outside. He wore a white button-up and black skinny jeans, both of which were soaked by the rain even though his brown, flawless hair stayed completely dry while he hummed and played with what looked like stardust between his hands. The dude didn’t seem to take any notice of Suga, who felt incredibly and hopelessly confused at the sight in front of him. A weird quizzical sound found its way out of Suga’s throat, and the guy instantly perked up as if he had been electrically shocked.

Random Model Boy turned around, revealing the multicolored lights dancing on his palms. “Oh, hi! I’m Tooru!” He smiled, eyes twinkling amidst the darkness.


	2. Nebula

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga learns some new things about Tooru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took me quite a bit to write OTL eugh. anyway, i'll hopefully be able to write faster and get the next chapter in for you guys! this particular one has fluffy oisugas in the beginning + the start of the kagehinas! as always, more character information in the end notes!

Suga stood in the doorway, speechless. _I must be incredibly tired._ His eyes traveled down to the stranger’s chest, where a large gash stained the shirt red. Suga could see scratches peppering his arms where the shirt’s sleeves were rolled up, yet he still smiled like nothing was wrong. Still, it felt like he was actually real and not just a weird fantasy that Suga’s mind had decided to conjure up. With a small jolt, Suga realized he had been staring off into space for an indefinite amount of time. At this point, he figured the only thing that could make the situation more awkward was if his head popped off his neck, or god forbid his mother walk in.

“Hey, I’m Koushi.” Suga internally berated himself for blurting out his first name, as if the guy had somehow become a best friend in the space of the two minutes they had known each other.

“Nice to meet you, Kou-chan!” Tooru waved, the dancing lights vanishing from his palms. In their place, small teal spheres of light orbited around his head, forming a sort of crown. A small period of silence ensued, where Suga debated with himself whether to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming or act like he was making a new acquaintance, all the while staring at the deep wound on the dude’s chest. Was he even human?

Just when he was about to start asking questions, a knock came at the door. “How’s studying going?” His mother said cheerfully, carrying a plate of fruit tarts.

Tooru looked at Suga, eyes questioning until they turned to surprise when Suga shoved him under the bed as gently as he could before opening the door. “I was just about to start, but I had some things to organize in my room first,” he replied, crossing his fingers behind his back and taking the plate to set it on his nightstand. “Do you think I should go with math or science first? I got less homework in math, but I feel like it’ll be harder.”

“I’d go with math. You’ll feel better off with the hard stuff done while your brain still wants to do the work.” His mother winked, slightly easing Suga’s anxiety about the rain-doused person under his bed. “Alright, I have a nice book to read downstairs and a cup of coffee, so I’ll leave you to study,” she added, kissing Suga on the cheek before leaving the room and softly closing the door behind her.

Leaning with his back to the door, Suga took a few breaths before grabbing Tooru’s hand and helping him up. “Sorry about that, my mom would have completely freaked out if she saw you here.”

“It’s fine, Kou-chan. I can’t stay here for long, anyway. Almost time for the light show, anyway.” Tooru smiled, making his way towards the window.

“Wait a minute!” Suga grabbed Tooru’s wrist without thinking, cursing his traitorous body. Something about this guy made him lose quite a bit of his mental facilities, but it felt nice, strangely enough. “Please stay, just for the night. It’s cold outside and rainy and it really, really sucks to have a cold, I speak from personal experience, and—”

Tooru’s laughter cut him off, a soft, tinkling sound that brought a light dusting of pink to Suga’s cheeks. “Well, that’s never happened before. When I stop by at a stranger’s house to rest a bit, they’re always glad to see me leave. You’re quite refreshing, Kou-chan,” he winked, taking Suga’s hands in his. A spark of pleasure ran through Suga’s body at the touch.

 _Oh._ “Can I do something about those?” Suga whispered, his voice refusing to go any louder. He pointed to Tooru’s arms, his hand suddenly feeling cold.

“Actually, I don’t heal like a normal person.” Tooru suddenly let go of Suga’s hands, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m actually just a walking solar panel. I can even go in moonlight and at least regain some energy from that. It’s really either natural light or physical contact with someone that has a personality that gets along nicely with mine. I haven’t been able to find one until now, actually. I really got lucky to find someone as refreshing as you, Kou-chan!”

“Thanks, but do you want something to eat? I feel rude for not asking…” Suga fought down his blush, remembering his sense of decorum. He gestured to his nightstand, which was conveniently right beside them. Tooru shrieked in delight, hugging Suga. Based on what he had previously said about recharging himself, Suga probably should have felt a draining sensation or something along those lines, but instead he received a wave of euphoria. When Tooru pulled away, Suga looked at his condition: the wounds had completely regenerated, but his clothes were still horrifically wet. Suga made a mental note to take care of that as soon as he could, but he had other priorities. Like studying. Or why he wanted another hug.

“I love these!” Tooru exclaimed, munching on a fruit tart with a face like he had just seen heaven. Suga began to stare again until Tooru’s smirk broke his trance.

“Take a picture, Kou-chan, it’ll last longer.” Suga was beginning to realize why he didn’t have very many people with personalities compatible to his: he was an utter flirt! Did it even mean anything? Did he even remotely like Suga? Was he just manipulating Suga into something that he would wholeheartedly regret?

A small whimper of pain escaped Tooru’s mouth, and he clutched his head with his free hand. “Owie, Kou-chan!”

“Did I do something wrong?” Suga asked, frantic.

“I can hear it when people get stressed or overthink about things, and if I’m near enough to them, it transfers into me as pain. It takes away the pain from the other person, but I have to bear their thoughts until they relax again.” Tooru kept nibbling at the tart, watching as Suga patted his shoulder in reassurance.

“Sorry,” he murmured, making sure that Tooru’s breath had returned to normal before walking over to get his schoolbag. “I have to get some studying done, so just save some of those for me, please.”

“Anything for you, Kou-chan.” Suga grinned over his shoulder, trying to put all his questions into the back of his mind and focus on his work. When he got back to the bed, he took out his glasses, slid them onto the bridge of his nose, and pulled out the notes he took in math. The equations weren’t very complex today, but the true effect of Tooru’s energy intake from him began to settle in as Suga dealt with his more sluggish train of thought.

“I have glasses too, Kou-chan! I just don’t wear them very much. Kou-chan?” He asked, tapping Suga’s calf.

“Hm? Oh, sorry, I just spaced out all of a sudden. It’s just that I feel a bit more tired than usual.” Suga looked over at Tooru’s worried expression, feeling a twinge of guilt. “I only have a few problems to go, it’s really fine.”

“Don’t lie to me, Kou-chan.” Tooru looked almost hurt, his eyes slightly glazing over. “I’ll do those for you so you can get to science!” The smile returned to his face as he gently took Suga’s pencil and leaned over to write in the answers, nuzzling his head right into the other’s shoulder while he ate through another fruit tart. Unlike his hands, Tooru’s body was pleasantly cool against Suga’s skin.

“You really don’t have to do this for me, you know.” The near-sinful pleasure Suga had been overtaken by when Tooru hugged him was back with a vengeance, and it almost made him feel like he was losing his last shreds of innocence by the second. He couldn’t help the undignified mewl that came out of him, and heat immediately rushed to his face.

“What was that, Kou-cha—Aw, crap!” Tooru pulled himself off of Suga, keeping a safe distance away. “Sorry, Kou-chan. Do you feel okay?” He sat on the floor, still holding Suga’s work and a pencil. “My body always stops taking in energy as soon as it’s full when I’m in light, so why doesn’t it stop with you?” He muttered to himself, but Suga heard the words loud and clear.

While Tooru scribbled numbers and worked out the equations on his worksheet, Suga turned his attention to science, the only other subject that he had homework he wasn’t able to finish in class. The subject matter was on astronomy terms he couldn’t recall, so it really didn’t come as a surprise when he started to doze off. “Mmn—” Suga stretched out his arms a bit, trying desperately to stay awake.

“Finished!” Tooru exclaimed happily, showing the extra doodles of himself that he had placed on the back of the paper. Letting out a yawn, Suga took the paper from Tooru’s waiting hand.

“Thank you,” he managed to say, nearly passing out with the effort it took just to move.

“Ooh, space! Since you’re so tired, just let me do these for you!” Tooru snatched Suga’s notes out of his lap, reading over the terms and filling in their definitions with ease.

At least it gave him something to do, right? Just as Suga was about to have another catnap, something flaky and sweet found its way into his mouth. “Hm? Mm-ngh!”

“You told me to save these for you, didn’t you?” Warm brown eyes locked their gaze with Suga’s, intense but soft. “Just sleep for now, Kou-chan. I won’t leave until the morning, okay?”

“No.” Suga’s eyelids were incredibly heavy, but if he was going to use his self-control for the first time tonight, it was now. “I’m going to stay awake until you fall asleep. Your clothes have half-dried out, right? I can just put them in the washing machine and let you borrow some of my bigger shirts.”

“Kou-chan, you’re so kind! Are you my savior?” Tooru threw his arms around Suga dramatically, lingering only for a few seconds before returning to his position on the bedside. Suga rubbed his eyes, poking Tooru in the cheek before standing up and tossing him a hoodie and the space leggings that he got from Nishinoya as a joke on his last birthday. It was definitely just a coincidence that they were the first thing he saw. Definitely.

“I don’t know about being your savior, but I’m definitely your friend by this point.” Suga grinned, collapsing against the closet door weakly. With newfound resolve, he pulled himself up and walked back over to the bed. “I’m gonna take a small nap while you change into that,” he yawned, falling onto the middle of the bed and curling up under his blanket. The pillows were slightly cold, but it calmed the inconceivable blush on his face. When the soft rustling of fabric subsided, he rolled over to face a grinning Tooru.

“Wanna sleep on the floor, or are you coming over here?” Suga grinned back, watching Tooru squirm at the sudden question and lift up the blanket as if asking for permission. _Looks like he’s made his decision,_ Suga thought to himself as he moved to the other side of the bed and switched off the floor lamp with some effort. An awkward silence filled the air until Tooru spoke into the darkness.

“Kou-chan?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.” Tooru swiveled over to face Suga, tears threatening to spill out of his eyes. “No one’s ever done anything like this for me before and tonight has been the most fun I’ve had in so long, even considering that all we did was meet each other for the first time and stay inside during the rain, but it’s been so nice… It’s been _so_ , _so_ nice,” he choked out, laughing while the tears streaked down his cheeks.

Something inside him drove Suga to wrap his arms around Tooru’s neck and cling to him like the world was ending. It might have been instinct or his need for warmth, but seeing Tooru cry nearly destroyed Suga’s last vestiges of control over himself, if he had any to begin with. “Any time, Tooru. If you decide to come back, you know where to find me.” He smiled into Tooru’s shoulder, a contented sigh bubbling up when he felt the other’s hands carding through his hair gently.

“Please let go, Kou-chan.” Tooru said, small droplets continuing to fall from his eyes. “I’ve taken advantage of you the whole night, please don’t spoil me any longer.”

Suga pulled away, instead grabbing Tooru’s hand and wiping at his eyes. “I intend to spoil you rotten,” he grinned, tangling their fingers together before drifting off into sleep.

“What impossibly good deed did I do to deserve Kou-chan?” Tooru asked the ceiling, letting go of Suga’s hand and facing the other way to yawn. “So this is what it feels like to have real friends, huh?”

* * *

Suga woke up to soft humming and the light, sweet smell of honeysuckle. In front of him, Tooru sat with a small piece of paper, deftly folding it into a small star and placing it on the nightstand. Another piece of paper sat next to the star, which Tooru instead wrote on and put into a small silver envelope. As soon as he looked over his shoulder, Suga feigned sleep and slowed down his breathing, hoping that Tooru wouldn’t notice.

“Thank you again, Kou-chan.” Tooru murmured, taking Suga’s hand and lightly pressing his lips to his wrist.

Suga caught the sound of his window opening and felt a slight breeze when tears started to spill out of the corners of his eyes at the thought that they might never see each other again. At least he now had a keepsake of Tooru, so now he would hopefully be able to remember him… Right?

Groggy from sleep, Suga checked the clock for the time. It was 4:30 AM, an ungodly hour in his opinion. He rolled over and looked through the window—clouds, and large gray ones at that. His mother was already awake by now, probably preparing breakfast and hopefully unknowing of the fact that he had taken in and befriended a total stranger. He’d even been cuddling Tooru! Couldn’t it have just been that he conked out as soon as Tooru got into the bed instead of this? He splayed out on the bed, catching the scent of honeysuckle again from the pillow that Tooru had used. Suga kicked his legs over the bedside, putting Tooru’s note in the same box he used to store his birthday cards and other things from his friends that he would read whenever he was sad. The envelope was relatively small compared to the box, so it fit nicely inside. He decided that he would leave the pale-turquoise star and say that he made it if anyone asked. Maybe it had an additional note inside of it, but he would save that for later.

“Koushi, are you awake yet? Breakfast is ready!” His mother called, singsong and cheerful like she always was at this time of day. Even though it looked bleak outside, she was happy as if it were a beautiful sunrise outside. Suga used to follow her outside onto the balcony of their house and watch the sun rise and set each day before he went to school and after he got home. She still did it even now, and she always loved to talk with him about anything he wanted whenever he came out to join her.

“Good morning!” Suga called, still trying to shake off the slight disorientation that came with waking up so early. He usually only got up at about 45 minutes or so before the start of school so he could have 10 minutes to get ready. Brushing his teeth took 2 minutes, a typical shower 5 due to his knack for efficiency (he hoped to cut it down all the way to 1 minute 30 seconds by the time college started), and getting dressed knocked another 2 minutes off the clock. He used the last minute for fixing up his hair and checking his bag if he forgot any homework or things of the sort from the night before. 25 of the 35 minutes left were spent talking to his mother and eating breakfast, and then he would set off at 6:50, arrive at 7:00, and get a nice hour of free time before classes.

“You slept so well, I almost wanted to go back to bed!” Suga flinched slightly at the notion that his mother might have seen Tooru. “You were wrapped around that giant pillow of yours like an octopus, it was so cute!” So Tooru had just stuffed himself under the covers and curled up, hadn’t he?

“I feel like I’ve only slept 30 seconds the entire night, to be honest.” Suga admitted, yawning. He looked over his mother’s shoulder at what she was preparing: fruit tarts, and what looked like a small armada of them. _If only Tooru were here to see this._

“Made them especially for you,” his mother winked back at him, kissing his cheek. “I’ve already packed some in a box on the counter for when you leave. Make sure you at least share with Hinata, okay? He hasn’t even come over to the house yet and I already feel like he’s another son. Oh, and tell Daichi that I send my regards for him and the team!”

Taking three of the tarts and eating one of them whole, Suga thanked his mother for the treat and headed upstairs to get ready for school. In his room’s bathroom, he discovered a small bouquet of honeysuckles, with one petal on the center flower bearing a doodle that he assumed was Tooru’s signature: a face with the tongue out winking at a star. The underside of the petal revealed another inscription in a slightly messy, though unapologetic, hand.

_Hiya, Kou-chan! I woke up really early this morning and decided to get you some presents to show my appreciation for your numerous acts of chivalry and ultimately quite overwhelming kindness last night. You’ll find all sorts of good stuff in your room today!_

His kindness wasn’t overwhelming, was it? Suga shoved the note into the back of his mind and started getting ready, walking downstairs with his bag when he was done. His mother had told him yesterday that she would be leaving for work early, but it still came as a surprise when she suddenly pulled him into a hug and rushed out the door full of words of encouragement.

Once his mother’s car had disappeared from his sight, Suga began to eat through the plate of tarts left for him, hurriedly stowing the mint-green box holding the rest of them into his bag. It was pouring outside when he stepped out, so he went back inside to get an umbrella before trudging through the roads all the way to school. When he arrived, the entry was filled with students shaking off their coats and umbrellas, spreading water everywhere. Hinata came running up to Suga, his cheeks flushed from the cold. Some yards away, a disgruntled Kageyama stood brooding by the window.

“Morning, Suga-san!” Hinata waved, sunny as ever. He looked around for a few seconds, seeing all the other students preoccupied, and pulled Suga down to his height. “Last night, Kageyama and I came over to Tsukishima’s house, and they got in a weird argument about something. They made me go out of the room, though,” he whispered, cupping his hand around Suga’s ear. “I heard something about Kageyama having no guts or something from Tsukishima, but they’ve both been avoiding me ever since. I’ve seen Kageyama still hanging around Tsukishima, but they only ever talk to me during practice.”

Suga looked up, being careful to duck down once more when he noticed Kageyama turning towards them. He looked like he’d seen a ghost when Hinata peeked up at him and waved half-heartedly, bolting away in the other direction. “I’ll try and ask him about it, okay?” Suga rested his hands on Hinata’s shoulders, smiling reassuringly. “Don’t worry about a thing. It isn’t your fault that they disagreed on something or other. It happens all the time. The best thing you can do right now is just not get involved, or you’ll probably end up jumping to the wrong conclusion.”

Hinata’s eyes twinkled as he nodded in agreement. “Okay. Oh, and another thing: I can’t really review with you in the mornings this week, Suga-san. I’m going with Yachi to brush up on English using her notes, but I’ll be checking over the rest with you at lunchtime. Is that okay with you?”

“Of course!” Suga let go of Hinata’s shoulders and gave him a thumbs-up. “Now go study with Yachi! Don’t want to keep her waiting! Watch your pronunciations, too!” He called after the other, watching Hinata’s flame-orange hair vanish among the crowd while he climbed up the stairs.

If Tsukishima blew up at Kageyama for something, it must have been something important. Based on what Hinata said about Tsukishima insulting Kageyama for “having no guts,” it could very well have been that Kageyama might be backing down from studying and just thinking about volleyball all the time. It made sense: Kageyama didn’t necessarily hate studying, he just couldn’t really get in the concepts. In fact, it was the only thing that Suga could think of that would cause him to get discouraged. Volleyball was his entire being, and Kageyama must have thought that—

Soft hands pulled Suga into an empty classroom before he could comprehend the situation. One hand covered his eyes, the other his mouth. Shimizu Kiyoko stood in front of him, slamming the door shut and looking around frantically.

“Shimizu? What is this?” Suga asked, trying in vain to move.

Kiyoko leaned against the door, sighing as silvery mist began to spread across the room. “Suga-san, I need to tell you some things about Tooru.” She started, walking towards him.

“Wait, you know him?!” He exclaimed in reply.

“Yes. I know Tooru, and I know that you were his energy source last night.” Kiyoko stood at the front of the classroom, pacing back and forth. “Thank goodness you two weren’t being watched. You both could have been in serious danger.”

“From what? What is all of this? Shimizu!” Suga gestured around the room, hopelessly confused.

Kiyoko adjusted her glasses, trying to find the right words. “Suga-san, Tooru and I are among a group of people who were taken in early adolescence to be subjects in an experiment designed to formulate the perfect race of human: the Cerveau system. We were chosen based on mutability; whether we worked well with other people because of wit, looks, or other charms, we were somehow “worth more” than all the others and were taught to look down on anyone and everyone below our level, as if we were gods. If we didn’t follow, we were driven to near-madness by torture, and were rewarded with large amounts of money and extravagant schooling if we respected orders.

“To give us the powers that we curse ourselves for having now, we were injected with small chips that were originally intended to supplement our bodies and give us longevity, strength, superiority over the rest of the human race. However, the biodata inside the chips malfunctioned, and the facility burned to the ground. We were safe from the fire, since we were in the tunnels beneath the city being tortured. The chips, however, put us in suspended animation for months until Tooru snapped us out of it and told us that something gave us superpowers beyond anything we’d imagined. It turned out that our powers were a direct manifestation of our own worst fears.” She said, looking pointedly at the silver fog that had completely overtaken the room.

“Tooru’s afraid of light?” Suga asked, images of the displays that Tooru had shown him that night popping up in his head.

“I don’t know his fear. No one does.” Kiyoko said gravely. “But after Cerveau rebooted itself a few months ago, we’ve all been on the run. This part of the city is blissfully free of constant supervision by the system’s numerous spies, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. Tooru’s been living on the streets, trying to get away to another country to escape them altogether. Because Cerveau made clones of us should we ever fail to carry out their objective, Tooru’s parents live with his doppelganger and refuse to give him any of their money. They haven’t a clue that the real Tooru is out there suffering alone, helping people on the street that could be incredibly dangerous to him. Furthermore, he shows no emotion, and if it is, it’s fake. He opposed Cerveau’s rules so much that he was willing to take the torture for it, and it permanently stripped him of the capability to truly have feelings past the skin. The only reason he smiles now is to keep up a façade, to make us see only what he wants us to see.”

The realization hit Suga like a kick to his stomach, and it started to become hard to breathe. “So he wasn’t really crying last night, was he?”

Kiyoko stopped abruptly, the expression of hurt on her face turning into one of shock. “But Tooru doesn’t cry. He hasn’t ever cried.” “In any case, I’ll never see him again, so there’s really no point in remembering my experiences with him.” Suga shook his head bitterly. “Suga-san, you don’t understand! Tooru is trapped here. My intel is shaky, but I know his wounds were from something that inhibited his ability to garner energy from natural light. If he deserts Japan, there is nothing else to sustain him.” Kiyoko gripped Suga’s shoulders, desperate. “You’re the only thing he has that prevents him from wasting away. Don’t you see, Suga-san? Tooru’s not alive without you. If he knows that he can feel emotions around you, that he can live because of you, and he chose to leave, it’s your responsibility to find him if you don’t want to lose him forever.”

Suga grinned at Kiyoko appreciatively. “I guess I’ll have to start searching now.”

“Call my name if you need anything at all, and I will be there to help.” She smiled in response, and they were transported back into the hallway. The classroom vanished into an empty supply closet, and Kiyoko was gone.

Her voice lingered, however, and it spoke into Suga’s ears.

“Good luck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bAM KIYOKO'S A SUPERHERO did you expect that? she's going to play a role in the story too! also the kagehina will be coming in droves in the next chapters! will suga find a lead on tooru? and here's your daily dose of character quirks:  
> -hinata is a social butterfly and has some female admirers that he knows nearly nothing about. while he goes unnoticed around the upperclassmen for the most part, the first-years think of him as a good friend, although a bit of an idiot. iN A GOOD WAY THO IN A GOOD WAY OKAY THE FIRST-YEARS THINK HINATA IS UBER CUTE  
> -kageyama is a tad jealous of hinata oooooo boi. even though they're very good friends, hinata's swarms of friends kept our kags on his toes and he eventually started to study more so that he would look good as hinata's friend. the first-years think he's kind of cool, but he doesn't really interact with them save for yachi, so he doesn't really have hinata's popularity.  
> -kiyoko's alias is 'wisp'! (i'll disclose her powers in later chapters ayy ;>)  
> -tsukishima and yamaguchi play video games like every night at tsukki's house. yama is the undefeated champion of every single game they play and tsukki will not stand for this blatant disrespect in his own home. akiteru thinks its rlly funny and films tsukki's disgrace after yama leaves for home. his entire camera roll is filled with frustrated tsukki.  
> -yachi asks kiyoko for fashion tips and they have daily meetups at lunch where they plan escape routes when tanaka and nishinoya see them. (they have so far found 14 shortcuts that they use on the d.l.)  
> thank you for reading and have a wonderful day! ;> (oh and feel free to guess tooru's fear ayy)


	3. Telescope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tooru likes cake and the piano.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kill me this chapter took so lon g aaaa i'm so sorry for the wait  
> i have been hecka busy this summer and this was the only time i had much time to write even this week with all the stuff about the school year starting blegh. but i'll have a sweet mac coming in later on sometime this month where i'll be able to do both my writing and my schoolwork more smoothly!  
> as always, character and bonus information at the end notes!

That night, Suga waited at his bedroom window with bated breath. He hadn’t thought of anything else besides Tooru for the past 12 or so hours, and he would spend a million more if it at least meant that he could learn more about the possible deathfest he’d gotten himself into. The whole day had already been horribly mundane after Kiyoko’s explanation; he’d even spent practice contemplating his own existence while everyone else worked away at their receives. Needless to say, they all said their goodbyes and went home their separate ways after Coach Ukai had given the word, walking away from each other in the drizzle that had turned into a downpour a few minutes later.

 

And now there was Tooru. Beautifully annoying Tooru. If he wanted to make a lasting impression that night, he’d definitely done his job.

 

After expecting him to arrive for about 3 hours and then staring through the glass at the awful storm outside for another 4, Suga decided to check the time. 10:30 PM. His mother had taken leave shortly after she arrived to drop off some new books for Suga. She had a habit of giving him gifts to try and make up for her absences whenever she went out with her friends or watched a movie by herself. Suga insisted on letting her go out, but she always managed to doubt herself and try to stay home just in case. Nothing had happened to her so far, but there had been a few, incredibly worrying close calls. With his revelation from the classroom with Kiyoko, Suga was almost certain that he would be a target.

 

He heaved himself up out of his less-than-comfortable chair by the cold windowsill and walked down the stairs, jumping down the last 3 out of fear and surprise at a freak bolt of thunder. His cell phone chimed inside his pocket, but he didn’t make a move to answer it, much less see who it was. He needed time to think, and thank goodness for the mercy the world had given him.

The tinkling chime of his ringtone jolted him awake once again, and this time Suga picked it up to see Hinata’s name and picture come up on the bright little screen.

 

“Yes, Hinata?” He said upon answering the call.

 

“Ah, Suga-san, good evening! I just wanted to know if we could schedule something at your house this week. I’ve been falling behind a bit in English and I do have the concepts down for the most part, it’s just that the actual pronunciations are throwing me off.” Suga could hear the slight pleading in Hinata’s voice as he spoke, knowing full well it was a lost cause to say no to it.

 

“Sure! How’s tomorrow night sound? I have some things to do today and I might take most of the night.” He replied quickly. “I’ll definitely be home by the end of practice tomorrow, and you can just knock for me to let you in. If my mom’s there, she’ll definitely be glad to see you.”

 

“Really?! Thanks!” Hinata’s cheery voice flooded Suga’s ears.

 

“No problem. Is there anything else you need to talk to me about?” Suga asked. _Please don’t talk more, please save it for tomorrow, please please—_

 

“There is one thing, I guess.” _Oh my god._ “I saw Kageyama and Tsukishima fighting about something after practice today, you know, after everyone left? I saw both of them acting normal when we were walking out of the gym, but as soon as they saw that everyone was out of earshot, they headed back inside and started arguing.”

 

“Did you hear what they were saying?” Suga heard Hinata sigh in response.

 

“Well, Tsukishima insulted Kageyama about having no guts or something like that. Kageyama just said that Tsukishima was a dumbass and stormed out, and that was when I booked it home. I haven’t told anyone else about this, but you’ve never given me bad advice, so I decided it was best to tell you first.” Hinata’s tone was solemn, throwing Suga off-guard. “But that doesn’t matter. Please just keep this a secret, alright? If the others found out that I stalked Kageyama, they’re never going to stop talking about it. I know I can trust you, Suga-san!” He said before hanging up.

 

A bit surprised at the sudden cutoff but nonetheless ready to spend some alone time, Suga put his cell phone on the counter and walked towards the fridge. Opening it, he picked up the small, lilac-purple box that his mother had mentioned before heading out.

 

“It’s extra-special, just for you!” She had said cheerfully before smothering him in a short embrace and winking as she closed the door behind her. She never locked the door herself when he was staying behind, always trusting Suga to lock it for her. It was a bit weird, but he’d never confronted her about it. Still, it seemed like more than just a small quirk of hers.

 

Suga examined the box closer. There were small, metallic silver flowers on the ribbon that tied it—his gut wrenched in uncertainty about whether to open it because it was so beautiful. Taking a deep breath, he gently pulled back the ribbon. The box fell apart, revealing an exquisitely made cake in the shape of a rose. It was decorated with small white pearls around the edges and cream frosting spiraling out from the middle. The thing looked too pretty to be real.

 

“Whoa!” A familiar voice whistled, and Tooru’s head poked up from between Suga’s legs. The rest of his body crawled out from under Suga, leaving no trace on the kitchen floor. “What’s that? That looks almost as angelic as you.”

 

Suga squeaked, jumping and nearly dropping the cake. “Tooru?!” He whispered at the smirking face inches in front of his.

 

“My family’s mansion gets really cold sometimes, I thought I’d stop by my new favorite hangout.” Tooru’s light-hearted chuckle filled the air between them where his own body couldn’t.

 

_I remember Kiyoko told me something about Tooru having a mansion, but what was it?_ “That isn’t the point!” Suga retorted, setting the cake down on the counter beside his phone. “How the hell did you get in here through the floor?!”

 

“Special ability.” Tooru winked. “You see, my powers are based on energy, light, that stuff. I can vibrate so fast that it allows me to phase through solid objects. Of course, it doesn’t work if I’m low on fuel. It’s a strenuous activity. However, your scrumptious body has kept me in wonderful condition!” He flashed a suggestive grin, raising his left eyebrow in a way that was incredibly stupid.

 

Suga’s heartbeat quickened slightly, but he let it slide and looked Tooru straight in the eye, grinning smugly. “I didn’t realize that you liked this place so much that you were willing to use an ability like that. Thought you were just passing through, huh? Well, it doesn’t matter now. I wanted some alone time tonight, but since you’re here, I have to entertain you as my guest.”

 

“What would you have done in your alone time if I hadn’t so rudely barged in?” A slight flush colored Tooru’s cheeks, though his stupid smile remained.

 

“Nothing of the sort you’re thinking! I just wanted to think about things.” The reply was simple, yet Suga noticed Tooru’s smile falter just a bit. “Oh, come off it,” he smiled, “you’re here now and my job for now is to make sure you’re all good and fine. Let’s just share this cake and chat for tonight. I’m not going to be reserved like that night, so we’re going to get all deep and personal.”

 

“Reserved?” Tooru snorted, crinkling his nose. “We slept in the same bed and I cried my heart out to you!”

 

“Shut up already!” Suga retorted. He picked up the cake and carried it to the dining table, patting the chair next to him. Tooru skipped over, humming contentedly.

 

“Hey, Kou-chan.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I don’t want to cut that cake. It’s a work of art.”

 

“Neither do I.” Suga agreed. The cake _did_ look amazing. “But what do you want to do with it?”

 

“Maybe we can just split the thing in half and then eat at it the way we both want to, I guess.” Tooru murmured, staring at the cake. “You have to give me a smaller piece, though. I’m only a guest in your wonderful abode, so just give me a third or something.”

 

“Of course not, are you crazy? I’m giving you the bigger slice.” Suga insisted.

 

“Why would you do that? I haven’t done anything to deserve this much from you.” Small pinpricks appeared in Tooru’s eyes. He brushed his thumb up to them in confusion. “Huh? Why’m I crying?”

 

By the time Tooru had processed what was going on, a large, triangular slice of the cake was handed to him on a plate along with a fork. He looked up as Suga’s face beamed down. “Don’t worry, I took a picture,” he said, holding up his phone with a wide smile.

 

“Thank you, Kou-chan.” Tooru reached for the fork, taking out a sizable chunk of his slice and letting out a yell of delight when it got to his mouth. “That’s so good!”

 

Suga followed Tooru’s actions. The cake was sweet without being cloying and he tasted peach along with the frosting. His smile at the taste only got brighter as he watched Tooru shriek in happiness at the discovery of the slice of the peach hidden inside his slice. “You didn’t notice?” Suga asked, snickering at the look of utter surprise on Tooru’s face as he turned his head.

 

“This cake is the best food that I have ever encountered in my entire life. Nothing in the world could beat this stuff!” Small golden lights flashed on his hands and in his eyes while Tooru spoke.

 

Suga decided not to point it out. Tooru was happy, and it was too good to miss. “I’ve actually never eaten something like this before. My mom leaves awesome food behind when she knows I’ll be home alone, but never anything as good as this cake.” He looked back to see Tooru shoveling forkfuls of cake into his mouth. “Oi, are you even listening to me?”

 

“Sorry,” was the muffled response while Tooru attempted desperately to talk with his mouth full. “Ff’ haven’ eaften’ all day.”

 

“Well, hurry and eat up, then! Why would you have asked for a small slice if you were that hungry?” Suga shook his head in disbelief, letting out a defeated sigh before continuing. “You should know by now that I’m willing to provide you with whatever I can. That’s what friends do. You’re really unbelievable, Tooru: how are you not willing to accept anything from me unless I give it to you myself?”

 

By then, Tooru had finished his cake. “I already asked to stay here for a night, and that’s way extreme considering how much danger I was putting you in without even thinking about it. I even fed off you! It’s not a friendship if I can’t provide you with something back.”

 

Tooru looked up: Suga’s eyes were gazing into his, and soft hands were reaching for his… Until they took his plate instead and Suga walked over to the sink. “Honestly. I don’t care if you give me material things back, I just enjoy your company when I can get it. _That’s_ friendship. What you’re saying isn’t describing a friendship, it’s a business partnership. Idiot.”

 

He came back to sit at the table, punching Tooru in the gut. “Geh!” He jumped back as Suga laughed. “Owie, Kou-chan!”

 

The laughter continued to bubble out of Suga, but it was stopped short by a sneeze. Tooru stifled a giggle at the sound.

 

“You sneeze like a kitten!”

 

“You have a brain smaller than one.”

 

“Well—” Tooru started, cut off by the sight of Suga’s head bobbing drowsily. “Kou-chan, are you sleepy?”

 

“Mmnh.” Suga responded, laying his head on the table with the cushion of his arms.

 

Tooru had an idea. He scooped up Suga into his arms and headed toward the piano. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard my favorite song, have you?”

 

Suga shook his head, fluttering in and out of consciousness. The only thing his senses were registering was the smell of honeysuckle and Tooru’s smiling face. He was set down on the couch beside the piano. Tooru pushed himself onto the piano bench, putting his hands at the correct position and then began to play an upbeat tune. It started mellow and soft, but Tooru’s fingers quickly picked up the pace on the keys. Suga could hear a faint voice singing, though he didn’t mind if he couldn’t hear the lyrics. The instrumental was beautiful enough.

 

Unbeknownst to Suga, Tooru was singing quietly to himself.

 

_On a sleepless night,_

_I sigh all alone._

_How’s everyone?_

_I feel kind of lonely._

_That’s not like me,_

_So stop laughing._

_It’s just that I don’t know my true self._

_Into the broad earth, a single seed_

_Extended its roots_

_And bore fruit that was still unripe_

_The fruit wants to hurry up_

_And turn_ _oran_ _ge-colored_

_Basking in your light_

_The ideals and dreams just expand_

_Hey, notice it!_

_I tried to eat_

_An orange today too_

_But it was still sour: I cried._

_Because it’s unlike me to leave any behind_

_I ate it all._

_I love you; it makes me cry._

_I love you. I love you._

When the song was finished, Tooru looked back from the piano to see Suga still fast asleep. He once again picked up Suga, but this time headed for the stairs. He’d tucked the other into bed when Suga’s mother walked into the house, a bit drunk though unharmed. Tooru was walking down the stairs and planning to phase back out of the house when she saw him.

 

“Eeehh?! My son has a boyfriend?” She squealed.

 

“It’s Tooru, Yoona.” He replied, and she immediately straightened. “And I’m just a friend, don’t worry.” He added, winking.

 

She took his arm and examined his palm, ruffling his hair afterwards. “Take care, alright? I know what you’re doing. I hope we were accommodating enough for you, freeloader.” She pulled him into a short hug, then said goodbye as he leaped onto the rooftop and flashed a peace sign with his fingers.

 

* * *

 

 

“Found anything on him yet?” Yachi asked, taking a seat beside Kiyoko at her desk.

 

“None of the radars are picking up anything. He’s finally managed to hack it.” Kiyoko pinched the bridge of her nose exasperatedly. “If he keeps this up, we won’t be able to do the contingent if he runs out of power.”

 

“Are you sure we have to do this?” Yachi bit her lip nervously, clutching her knees.

 

“Not until we’re certain. We have to leave the situation to develop a bit more and then see what we can do with current resources.”

 

“Please don’t treat him like a test subject, Kiyoko. Please.” Yachi pleaded, lightly resting her hand on the other’s shoulder.

 

She retracted her hand as soon as Kiyoko spoke. “It’s Shimizu in professional settings, Hitoka-chan. And I’m not treating him like a test subject. I’m just trying to protect him.” She snapped her computer shut, footsteps silent as she left the room.

 

Yachi stared at the door, which had been left open, and decided against going after her superior. She took a seat in front of the small computer, fingers clicking away at the keyboard to deliver a list of possible coordinates. In an instant, the entire screen lit up with red dots. Yachi sprinted outside.

 

* * *

 

 

Tooru sat on the roof of the Sugawara residence feeling like he’d just had the best few hours of his entire life. Kou-chan had declared that they were friends, and even treated him to cake!

 

“It’s a good life, Hajime.” He said wistfully, smiling at the lone star in the sky. “Maybe you’ll remember me when I rack up the guts to knock on your window again.”

 

“And when that happens, you can finally get rid of me for real this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [a little fun fact: the song tooru was singing is actually my literal fav song ever... hhh it's called 'orange' by kugimiya rie (+ horie yui +kitamura eri) from toradora!, which is my second fav anime next to haikyuu!! aaa i love toradora! so much pls watch it if you want to understand the multiple references i'll be putting in there lol i'm trash]  
> as promised, here's your bonus info!  
> -kageyama and tsukki were fighting over something concerning hinata (next chapter is the start of the kagehina half of the story ;>)  
> -tooru has a secret hideout underneath his family's mansion. he sends up robots of his own creation to steal back things that his clone wouldn't notice. (hint: iwa lives in the oikawas' neighborhood ;>)  
> -as you might have guessed, yachi is affiliated with kiyoko and the resistance movement against cerveau, but not in the way you might think. she is actually kiyoko's advisor/exemplar, and because the wisp/kiyoko's ability set is activated by certain emotions, yachi acts as an inhibitor for kiyoko's mood whenever her judgement is clouded, like you saw in this chapter. i swear i'll elaborate more in the next chapter it's seriously not that complicated lol  
> this has been your author(tm) bee! thank you so much for reading and have an amazing day! <3

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed this chapter! i'm currently working on another one and it should be up soon!  
> if you're wondering about who aoba jousai's captain is since tooru isn't currently filling the position, i've decided to make iwa-chan our lovely seijou captain! (he'll also make some appearances in tooru's backstory ;>)  
> alright, so here's some character info:  
> -hinata hangs out with suga in the mornings and at lunch and basically follows suga around like he would kageyama since our favorite blueberry isn't always there due to his study sessions becoming quite frequent. as such, hinata has developed a bit of a crush on suga but he's still oblivious to it. but everyone already has at least a bit of a crush on suga, so he's still fine. hinata also updates his senpai on what's been happening according to yachi, who hears current events from shimizu!  
> -daichi goes through a lot help him he's usually rlly tired the poor bab... kuroo and bokuto keep him locked in a skype group with them and he suffers hELP DAICHI  
> -kageyama has a part in oik's backstory ;> you'll see later but it has something to do with the change in tooru's mental state before and after the experiments!


End file.
